Justice In The Worst Way
by Black Beyond
Summary: after a series of tramatic events, Usagi tsukino is focred to take drastic measures to save herself and the very ground she walks upon. Afterwards she flees, leaving behind a tattered mystery and a battle yet to be finished. Months later, she must return


  
  
  
  
  
Justice in the Worst Way  
  
Black Beyond  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rated: R  
  
  
Author Note: /denotes thought/  
"denotes speech"  
Takes Place After Stars Arch  
  
Summery: After a series of traumatic events, Usagi Tsukino is forced to take drastic measures to save herself and the very ground she walks upon. Afterwards, she flees, leaving behind a tattered mystery and a battle yet to be finished. Over a year later, she must return to Tokyo to finish off the demon with the face of her former lover...   
  
Rating: R  
  
Warnings: Graphic violence, referrals to adult situations, overall dark tone with a little dry humor. Mamoru, Yuichiro, and Luna otakus should not read this. Those who are weak of stomach and mind are not advised to read this. I apologize for any format problems.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
Breathe deep the gathering gloom  
Watch lights fade from every room  
Bedsitter people look back and lament  
Another day's useless energies spent  
Impassioned lovers wrestle as one  
Lonely man cries for love and has none  
New mother picks up and suckles her son  
Senior Citizens wish they were young  
Cold hearted orb that rules the night  
Removes the colors from our sight  
Red is Grey and Yellow, White  
But we decide which is right  
And which is an illusion???  
  
-From the Song "Nights in White Satin"   
By Justin Hayward (The Moody Blues).  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
You're on the outside looking in  
Trying to learn good from sin  
You never know just what to do  
That's why your heart is always blue  
I'll always try to understand  
I know that life can demand  
But remember that no matter what always  
I'll be there for you until the end of days.  
  
-From "Outside Looking In" by J.E.B.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
  
  
/I wonder if you hear me, when I think of you./ She looked up at the night sky, devoid of the   
beautiful moon she loved to gaze upon. A dark moon.   
  
She wasn't a superstitious person, but on the dark of the moon, her blood chilled in her very   
veins. No matter what they said to her, she knew that the dark of the moon was a night for evil things. Without the moon's purifying light, the shadows were free to lurk in the streets, ready to take their prey.  
  
/Has it really been so long?/ She sighed, and looked down at her hands. They were hidden   
from her view, gloved in sleek black material. She hated to look at her hands; they represented   
every drop of blood spilled at their presence. She was only seventeen... only seventeen...  
  
/Only seventeen. What a joke./  
  
Her silver eyes roamed the comfortably sized room around her until they rested on a table at   
the far end. On it lay her sanctuary and curse; a small, crescent-shaped silver locket, on a silver   
chain. She'd thrown it there in a fit of anger weeks ago, and hadn't bothered to touch it since.  
  
/I miss Luna./ Luna wouldn't have allowed her to become depressed, as she was now. Luna   
wouldn't have let her give up on her duties and tell off her guardians. Luna wouldn't have let her   
run away, and Luna wouldn't have let her cry about it...  
  
/A sixteen year old shouldn't have duties./ That's what she'd said. She'd screamed it at them,   
over a year ago, and even as she did, she knew the words were grossly unfair. They were just as   
old as she, younger, even. They'd given up more for her than she wanted to think about.  
  
/No, they didn't./ They didn't watch their family die. They didn't watch their best friend die,   
and they didn't have to kill the very person that she loved more than anyone else. She'd deserved   
to scream those words, to run.   
  
She looked once more up at the starry, moonless sky. She knew the chill in her blood wasn't   
only because of the absence of her white orb.  
  
/Something's about to happen. Something big./ She rose to her feet wearily, and crossed the   
room with painstakingly measured steps. In a swift movement, she snatched the necklace from the   
table and flung it around her neck in an angry manner.  
  
The locket glimmered for the slightest fraction of a second as she reached up and yanked the   
hairbow from her silver mane, letting it cascade over her shoulders, clashing with the black dress   
she wore.  
  
/I can't let it happen again./ She thought angrily. She knelt down beside the table and tugged   
out a strongbox. Her fingers fumbled as she spun the combination lock and opened the clasp.  
  
Inside it lay a golden box the width and length of her hand, about two inches tall. She picked   
this up with great care, closed the strongbox and kicked it back into place as she stood up and   
walked into the bedroom, took out a suitcase, and began to pack.  
  
/This isn't going to be easy./ She thought, carefully smothering the box in-between two of her   
silk blouses before she closed the suitcase.  
  
/But then again, nothing that involves me ever is./ She sighed, picking up the telephone.  
  
"Yes, please. I'd like to be on the next available flight to Tokyo, Japan. Any class. No,   
ma'am. Name? Serenity Tsukino..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"No, I haven't, Rei-chan." Makoto said, cradling the phone between her chin and shoulder as   
she stirred the cake batter before her. "You know I would have told you... why?"  
  
"It's nothing, Mako-chan. Just something I saw in the fire." Rei answered. There was a tinge   
of worry in Rei's velvet voice that irked Makoto.  
  
"Did you see *her* in the fire, Rei-chan?" Makoto demanded, allowing the spoon to fall,   
dormant, into the bowl as she straightened her shoulders.  
  
It took Rei forever to answer.  
  
"I... I don't know, Mako-chan." She heard Rei sigh. "I think so, but I can't be sure. It... I..."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I think... I couldn't be sure... but... Mako-chan, it looked just like... well... Queen Serenity."   
She could see Rei's frustrated violet eyes. "If it was *her*... she's changed..."  
  
"Can you blame her if she has?" Makoto said, before she could stop herself. "Sorry, Rei-  
chan." She said, in the long pause that followed. "It's just..."  
  
"I know." Rei said. "It's been so long."  
  
"Should we call a meeting?"  
  
"Would it do any good? We won't find her unless she wants to be found." Rei replied. "It   
would only make Minako upset... she doesn't need that. None of us need to get our hopes up."  
  
Makoto nodded silently, not caring Rei couldn't see her. She could remember the last time   
they'd gotten a lead on their friend. It had been a good eight months ago, and even though Haruka   
and Michiru had been there seconds after Ami's scanners had sensed the flare of energy, *she* had   
been no where on the premises.  
  
That was the very last time. Since, there hadn't even been a whisper of *her* whereabouts.   
Quite frankly, the Great Fire had been about as helpful as a rock about the whole thing.  
  
"Well... I'll let you go, Rei-chan. Call me if you see anything more... Lu-- Artemis might like   
to know."   
  
"Yeah. 'Bye."  
  
"See you." Makoto hung up the phone and gave her bowl of batter a sulky glare. "It isn't   
fair." She said to the bowl. "It just isn't fair."  
  
Sighing, she threw the batter into the garbage and carelessly placed the bowl in the sink,   
before grabbing her jacket and her wallet.  
  
She cast a look around her apartment, which she hadn't cleaned forever, before shrugging.   
She smiled sadly and shut the door.  
  
When in doubt, shop.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It was so strange.   
  
She hadn't realized how awake she felt until after she stepped off of the airplane. Like a part   
of her had fallen asleep when she'd left and only awakened just now.  
  
/But I still feel dead, unfeeling./  
  
She shook the thought from her mind as she checked her luggage and got into the taxi that   
was waiting only too happily for her.  
  
Of course it was. Everything waited for her. She was the center of the universe, and no one   
had even asked if she wanted to be before they shoved her up on that throne, threw a crown at   
her and said, "Do or everyone you love dies." and let it like that.  
  
/And the question is, Do I like it or do I not?/  
  
And as much as she wanted to say she hated it, despised it, wanted to rip that throne and   
crown into dust and scatted the dust into the wind, a part of her clung to it desperately.  
  
/This is what you are. Leave this and everything will have been for nothing./  
  
"Where to?" The driver asked her, after her suitcase had been stowed away in the truck.  
  
She gave him the address of Mamoru's old apartment. She had been keeping the payments up   
and still had a key. It would be the very last place anyone would think to look for her.   
  
His eyes brightened at that. It was a very rich district of Tokyo; he knew that apartment had   
to cost a small fortune.  
  
/It's not all money and fame, you know./ She thought, catching the gleam in his eyes. /You   
wish for it until you have it, and then you wish you didn't have it./  
  
She sighed.  
  
/Only you can't learn it by someone telling you. You can't believe it. So experience is the only   
teacher... god, I sound like an old lady./ She smiled a little at that, in spite of herself. /Really,   
Usagi. Maturity? From you? Luna would have a heart attack./  
  
She sighed, carefully ignored the cab driver's attempts at conversation, and cringed when the   
tall complex came into view...  
  
The last time she'd seen that was...  
  
She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breathes. /Can't think about it... not now. You   
have to get yourself settled in before you even dare to think about it, Usagi./  
  
She nodded blandly to the driver, gave him a huge tip, and told him she could manage with   
her suitcase, thank you.  
  
It weighed nothing in her hand, and even though she knew her training had made her   
stronger, she was still surprised. When had she changed so much?  
  
Sighing, she walked through the sliding doors of the complex, and nodded importantly to the   
security officer as she stepped into the elevator and hit the button that would take her to the floor   
of her new/old apartment. She'd learned that all people could be manipulated or intimidated, and   
had gradually perfected her abilities. She was stunningly gorgeous, it didn't take a fool to see that.  
  
She was surprised to find that, after she had left Tokyo, her hair, that once was the color of   
spun sunshine, slowly faded into a moonlit silver. The deep blue of her eyes had changed as well,   
fading to a sharp gray blue. Her figure had filled nicely in all the right places, and she was tall.   
Almost as tall as her mother, who'd stood at nearly six foot.  
  
She'd finished school early, zooming through courses like the second grade, remembering   
past lessons from a life long ago. Away from her guardians, she was a completely different   
person. She was calm and serious, and had perfected her fighting skills.  
  
She stepped gracefully out of the elevator and walked to the apartment. A sense of deja vu`   
hit her so harshly she nearly dropped her suitcase, but she covered spectacuarly, fishing the keys   
out of her purse and opening the right door.  
  
She almost burst into tears right there. All of her defenses and masks shattered as the smell of   
chocolate and roses hit her like a wave. Her suitcase dropped, forgotten, as she stepped   
robotically into the room. She would have given everything in the world just to see Mamoru walk   
out of a doorway, "Hey, Usako. Aishiteru," and sweep her up in his arms and kiss her one more   
time...  
  
She drew a long, shuddering breath, turned around, pushed her suitcase out of the way and   
closed the door, locking it carefully.  
  
Everything was as it used to be. Clearly, no one had entered this... this shrine... after Mamoru   
had died. No one had reason to, for a 'rich relative' had been keeping up payments. Even the   
wilted roses, drooping in their vases of stale water, stood as they had the morning Mamoru had   
left it.  
  
She walked in and out of the small bedroom and bathroom, into the kitchen and finally back   
into the living room. Everything was so... Mamoru. She didn't bother to inspect the refrigerator or   
pantry. They'd both have to be cleared out and restocked, except for nonperishable.   
  
She picked up her suitcase in trembling hands and moved it into the bedroom. There wasn't   
any need to signal that yes, she was here, if any of the senshi did come by.   
  
She perched almost precariously on the edge of the perfectly made bed, nearly sneezing as   
dust flew about. In a flurry of sudden movement, she jumped up and flung the sliding glass doors   
open. A gust of wind swept into the room, stirring up so much dust that Usagi gasped and ran for   
the door. She flung it open and fumbling with the lock and stood, bent over, gasping for air.  
  
"Damn, I knew I shouldn't have done that." She rasped, blinking quickly to get the dust out   
of her stinging eyes. "I'm so foolish." She turned and looked at the flurry of gray dust through   
watery eyes. "I hate cleaning." She grumbled, sliding down the wall until she was sitting.   
  
/I can't very well go back inside when it's like that. I'll choke to death, and won't that be   
ironic. The great Sailor Moon, defeated by a bit of dust./  
  
After all that happened, she wouldn't be surprised if she did die an ironic death. Sighing, she   
placed her face in both hands.   
  
"Are you alright, miss?"  
  
Usagi's head jerked up, startled, as her eyes met a pair of soft blue ones. Her cheeks flushed   
and she scrambled to her feet.  
  
"Yes, thank you." She said, fighting to control the rush of blood to her face. "It's just... no   
one's been here for a long time... I opened a window... and well..." She motioned to the settling   
dust.  
  
"You were a friend of Chiba-kun?" The man asked, startled. He brushed some of his dark   
blonde hair from his eyes.   
  
"More than a friend." Usagi muttered. "I'm sorry... I didn't catch your name...?"  
  
"Furuhata. Motoki Furuhata." Came the reply. Usagi couldn't stop the strangled gasp that   
escaped her throat.  
  
"Motoki-chan?!" She choked out. "You look so different!"  
  
"Do I... Us... Usagi-chan?" Motoki stumbled back a step. "I look different? Look at you!"  
  
Usagi blushed again.  
  
"Well, come inside. I think the dust has just about settled now." Usagi said, pulling him   
inside. "I've not been in Tokyo since... well, you know." She said, walking over and opening the   
windows. Motoki said down on the couch, looking around him.   
  
"Yeah, I know." He replied softly. "You know, they never found out who... murdered...   
him."  
  
Usagi paused for the slightest of seconds.  
  
"How could they?" She said, keeping her back to Motoki. "Dead men can't tell secrets."  
  
Motoki watched Usagi pin back the dusty curtains. His eyes narrowed... what did she mean?   
Surely, she couldn't...  
  
"What do you mean, Usagi?" He asked carefully, looking at her warily.  
  
"You mean..." She turned to face him. "They never told you? Never hinted?" At his hesitant   
negative nod, she rolled her gray-blue eyes. "That was quite low of them, Motoki." Usagi turned   
around again, and started to remove the dead flowers from the vases. "You were one of his only   
friends."  
  
"Do you know something about it?"  
  
"Know something--!" Usagi dropped the dead rose and turned around to face Motoki, her   
face a mix of astonishment and fury. "I watched it happen! I was the one to take his life, after he   
killed Luna and destroyed the Tsukinos!" She kept her voice low, but there was a tone in it, a   
spark of melancholy darkness that Motoki had never heard there before.  
  
"You... you killed Mamoru?" His mind froze.  
  
"Oh, it's not that way." Usagi sighed. "I'm sorry, Motoki. You don't know the whole story...   
did Mamoru ever tell you he was Tuxedo Kamen?"  
  
"He... but... that..."  
  
"S'pose not. This just makes everything even more difficult. Alright, Motoki. Listen. I'll tell   
you about Mamoru's history, but mind you, I don't exactly feel like going into detail, so you're   
going to get the outline. A thousand years ago, there was life on the other planets, and most   
particularly, your moon..." With a heavy heart and an odd smile, Usagi launched into the age-old   
and forgotten tale of her true childhood, a time known as the Silver Millennium.  
  
  
  
  
  
There's a point in one's life where they can't take it anymore and their heart freezes up into a   
cold stone.  
  
She didn't know exactly when she'd hit that point. Maybe it had been the breaking point with   
her family, or maybe the first time she had to kill. Maybe it happened completely gradually... it   
had snuck up on her. It had been the day Usagi took off that she, Ten'oh Haruka, had finally   
realized what a cold-hearted soldier she'd become.  
  
There'd been leads. There always was. And since the Tsukino family had been murdered,   
everyone assumed Usagi had been too. Only they knew the truth, and short of revealing   
themselves, they couldn't prove it.   
  
She'd wanted to reveal herself. She'd had her henshin stick in wand and was halfway to the   
news station when Michiru and Setsuna had stopped her, Hotaru running up and throwing her   
spindly arms around one of Haruka's legs, "Haruka-papa, listen to Setsuna-mama!" and Setsuna   
speaking in grave tones, Michiru added a comment here and there.  
  
She hadn't heard their words. If someone were to ask her what they'd said to her, she would   
have blanked out and admitted she didn't know. It had been Hotaru, the small daughter of death,   
the one Usagi had nearly given all to save, that had calmed her.   
  
A power surge here, a flash of energy there, a glimpse of silver on a summer's eve, and no   
more than that, perhaps less. If Haruka hadn't known better, she would have sworn by her   
guardian deity that the princess of the moon had vanished off the surface of the earth.  
  
Perhaps she didn't know better. Maybe Usagi had left Earth. Haruka wouldn't have, couldn't   
have, blamed her for it. After watching what she'd been forced to watch...  
  
"Haruka, you're daydreaming again." Michiru teased. Haruka looked up, realizing with a   
flush her lover had been speaking to her.  
  
"Sorry, Michiru." She mumbled. "What did you say?"  
  
"I said, Setsuna's been having visions. She won't say what they are about, though." Michiru's   
aquamarine eyes were clouded in worry. "Do you think that there's a new threat on the way?"  
  
It took every ounce of Haruka's self control not to stand up and shout, "No! She promised   
the Sailor Wars were over, twice! It can't happen again; it's not fair!" and cry.  
  
"Let's hope not." Haruka said finally. "Hotaru is only just now doing well in school, and the   
senshi have just about recovered."  
  
"Do you suppose Usagi will return if there is a threat?" Michiru's voice was almost hopeful.  
  
Haruka closed her eyes. Mental pain was too real, sometimes.   
  
"She will come, if needed." Haruka said, an odd, sad half-smile on her lips. "She promised,   
remember? She'd never break a promise like that unless something... happened to her." The last   
  
words were difficult to say.  
  
"Do you really..." Michiru trailed off, and then began again. "Can something have happened   
to her? Haruka... do you suppose..."  
  
"No." Haruka said firmly, her glare boring a hole into the table. No. They would have known.   
The princess would never have been so foolish as to do anything of that nature. How dare it even   
be thought of...!  
  
Michiru nodded, sensing the direction of her other's thoughts. She knew better than to reason   
with Haruka on this point. And there was a minuscule chance the princess was indeed alright...   
perhaps this time the odds might tilt in their favor.  
  
/If they do, it shall not be the first time./ She flinched, thinking of the times that, only by the   
sheerest of luck, they'd won. She could never get used to relying on luck.   
  
"She looks familiar..." Haruka said, looking at someone behind Michiru. "And so does he...   
do you know them?"  
  
Michiru turned around. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "That man is Furuhata Motoki, but   
I've never seen her before... no, you're right. She does look familiar." Michiru frowned. "I can't   
place her, though."  
  
"Motoki-kun?" Haruka nodded. "If that's Motoki, she's probably been in his company when   
we were around, that's all." She eyed the woman's long silver hair that had been pinned up into a   
bun. "Such an odd color. I've seen it only once..." Her nose wrinkled childishly in distaste. "Kou   
Yaten's hair was that color."  
  
"Jealous, Haruka?"  
  
"Hn!" Haruka scowled at her. Michiru chuckled.   
  
"I'll take that as a yes."  
  
"Haruka-kun! Michiru-san!" Motoki saw them and waved. He pulled the reluctant woman   
with him. "I don't think you've met my cousin, Otome, have you?" He asked.  
  
"Hello." Otome said, in a low voice.  
  
"Hello, Otome. Have we met before?" Michiru asked, smiling. "You seem so familiar."  
  
Otome's already pale face grew even more so. "No, I don't think so... miss?"  
  
"Michiru... Kaioh Michiru. This is Ten'oh Haruka." Michiru smiled again.  
  
"Oh. I don't think we have met, Miss Kaioh." Otome's Japanese was heavily accented, and   
she seemed to have trouble finding the words. "I'm not in Tokyo often."  
  
Haruka watched as Michiru's eyebrow twitched, ever so slightly.  
  
"We haven't see you lately, Motoki-kun." Haruka said pleasantly.  
  
"Oh, I've been out of the country... school, mainly. I transferred a while back and just now   
returned. Well, we have to go now. I promised Otome she could meet my fiancée, Rika." Motoki   
winked. "G'bye!" He led Otome out of the cafe and into the busy mall.  
  
"She was lying. That accent was about as real as her story." Michiru said. "She's been in   
Tokyo a lot, lived in it, if I'm right." Michiru frowned. "Watch."  
  
She motioned to Otome, who was pulling Motoki along now, pointing to shops, smiling.  
  
"She knows her way around." Haruka nodded. "But what reason does she have to lie to us?   
We don't know her."  
  
"Or do we?" Michiru asked. "Admit it, Haruka. there's something off about her aura, and the   
look in her eyes isn't quite... sane..."  
  
"Making unfounded accusations now, are we?" Haruka raised her right eyebrow. Michiru   
flushed, but only slightly.  
  
"Haruka, doesn't she remind you of..." Michiru sighed. "I remember... don't you? Almost...   
but not quite... I've seen her before... on Triton, I think... no..." Michiru frowned. "I've seen her   
before! Somewhere important!"  
  
"Triton?" Haruka couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. "*Triton*?"  
  
"Oh, hush." Michiru snapped, uncharacteristically. Her face was red, and she frowned even   
more. "I know I have, Haruka. I'm positive."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
As soon as she was absolutely sure they were out of Haruka and Michiru's sight, Usagi   
grabbed the collar of Motoki's shirt and pinned him up against the wall with strength that   
surprised him almost as much as her actions. Her eyes were now a cold, metal-like silver, glinting   
with malice.  
  
"Baka." She muttered. "Those two can sense magic. It will take them a while to figure it out,   
but they know magic especially when that magic is tainted."  
  
"Usagi, damn it, you look evil like that." He managed to gasp.  
  
"Oh." Usagi let his feet touch the ground and smiled pleasantly at a group of fourteen year   
olds that were giving them strange looks. They scampered. "Well, yes. I told you what happened,   
Motoki. I'm not the pure, untouched, innocent Usagi anymore. I'm sorry, I truly am. But you can't   
going me off to my guardians just because my physical and mental appearance has changed! Gods,   
I look enough like my mother so that they have to suspect *something*."   
  
"Sorry, Usagi. But I just couldn't ignore them..."  
  
"Actually..." Usagi grinned. "You could have told Haruka... oh, never mind." She released his   
collar. "You know, it's either I've gotten a lot stronger than I thought I had or you've lost a lot of   
weight."   
  
"You're strong." Motoki said shortly, adjusting his collar after feeling his neck. "I've been   
lifted up like that before by Mamoru, and he had to put me down after a few seconds."  
  
Usagi raised one eyebrow, clearing stating her question.  
  
"Oh, I made some crack about him and Rei." He paused. "You know, it's weird to be talking   
about him like that after getting used to the idea he was dead for so long."  
  
"He *is* dead."  
  
"You know what I mean."  
  
"Sadly, yes. Now, if you'll look discreetly to your left, there is a mall cop looking at me like   
I'm on the American Ten Most Wanted List. Kiss me on the cheek and smile, I'll hug you, and   
we'll get the heck out of here before I come face to face with someone who WILL recognize me."  
  
Motoki glanced sideways, and there was the cop, eyeing them both suspiciously. Motoki   
rolled his eyes before following Usagi's instructions, and she followed her own.   
  
"God, I feel awful." Motoki muttered.   
  
"You never were a good liar." Usagi frowned. "Too honest for your own damn good... I   
want to have that again, you know. Lying's much too easy and much too easy to get used too."   
She sighed. "That's part of the reason I've got so much money handy. Just a couple of spells, I   
change my appearance, use another spell, persuade the director to list me in a very minor role and   
also get him to pay me more money than the lead."  
  
"You get around, don't you? If I hadn't just spent the last hour listening to a story that should   
be in a science fiction novel but for some reason I know it's true, I'd say you were another person   
altogether." He shot her an unreadable look. "You're right, though. You're very good at lying.   
And accents."  
  
"Oh!" She grinned. "That was a mix of Austrian and Latin. It'll take them years to figure it   
out, through. I met a man with that accent, and finally got him to tell me." She smirked. "It's come   
in useful more than once," she said, at his strange glance. "You'd be surprised at how willing   
police will let you off if you're a foreigner with a strange accent who also happens to be drop dead   
gorgeous."  
  
"I could imagine." Motoki didn't resist the urge to look Usagi up and down once again. "I   
still can't believe... d'you have any idea how much Playboy or Pentagon would play to--" He   
stopped at her murderous glare.   
  
"You were wise to stop." She said, her voice full of venom. "I'm well aware I'm attractive,   
thank you. A whole lot of bums and jerks who've approached me... er... forcefully... have   
discovered I'm also one hell of a sorceress, and not to mention my right hook is mean."  
  
Motoki gulped.  
  
"Are they..."  
  
"Dead? Oh, of course. You didn't expect me to let them live, did you? After seeing a magi   
perform? I don't think so." She paused. "Oh, damn. That was cruel."  
  
"No kidding."  
  
"Well, it's not like I can help it; it's who I am." She shrugged. "I'm used to it."  
  
"Don't see how, but I won't go into that. Now..." Motoki paused in front of a store. "I would   
pay good money to see you in that." He pointed to the front of Victoria's Secrets. Displayed was a   
very skimpy black silk lingerie that looked like someone had taken a handkerchief and diced it,   
and then stretched it over a lady's figure.  
  
"In your dreams."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Do you really want to know... oh, forget it. If you're lucky, I might just model that for you   
someday... after you die, that is. Now, I believe you were going to escort me to Rei's shrine..."  
  
"You owe me." His eyes glinted with mischief as he gave her a suggestive look. She grinned,   
knowing he was only joking. /Just as well for him, or he'd have a time breathing now./  
  
"Motoki, when did you become such an eechi?"  
  
"I've always been this way. What... you bought that honest charm stuff?"  
  
"Want the answer?"  
  
"Not really."   
  
"Alright, then."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Hino Rei stared into the fire harder than she'd ever before. The dancing orange flames were   
blank in her eyes, a canvas ready to be painted. She was the one who could see the pictures as   
they were created.  
  
"Great fire, please, show me where Usagi is."  
  
Once again, as it did every time she asked, she was shown a picture she knew was death:   
black within black, screaming cries of terror and a smug hint of satisfaction.  
  
For the first time in a long time, she lost her temper.  
  
"No, damn you! She can't be dead! I refuse to believe it!" She lashed out at the flames, but   
seconds before her hand hit them, the fire flared up so that it was licking the tall ceiling of the   
Hiwaka Shrine.  
  
And in it, Rei could see a person as tall as she. Slowly she stood up, one hand around her   
henshin stick. She spoke slowly, clearly, and respectfully.  
  
"Who the fuck are you?"  
  
"Language, my hot-tempered friend." The voice was male, and the body became clearer. It   
was clothed in thick black cloth, a robe of sorts, but it was most decidedly male in gender.  
  
Not to mention he was standing in the middle of a sacred fire.  
  
"I'll watch my language when you tell me while the hell you're standing in the middle of the   
Great Fire playing the role of the spooky mystic here to tell me in cryptic terms that I'm screwed,   
and a suicide mission is the only way to regain whatever honor I had in the first place."  
  
If she expected the man to be insulted, surprised, or angry, she was severely disappointed.  
  
"That's not why I'm here." He shrugged. "You fed a great deal of emotion to the fire just   
now, so I will grant your request: an answer for your question. In a sense, your Usagi is dead.   
The girl you remember, that is. She has changed beyond anything you could ever hope to   
understand. But she is here. In your city."  
  
"Do WHAT?!"  
  
"You have a very extensive vocabulary, Princess." he wore she was a smirk on his face. "Yes.   
She is here, because your battle is not finished yet."  
  
As her anger dwindled, so did the fire, and likewise did the person within the fiery heat.  
  
"Wait... can't you even tell me where she is?!"  
  
"Sorry... She chooses to conceal her location even from I, Are..."  
  
He vanished.  
  
Rei sighed, and sat back down.  
  
"Will this war never end?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
At first, everything was fine. She had a good life, and she was innocent, kind, sweet, and   
caring. A little ditzy, of course, but she still made wonderful grades. She was every parent's dream   
daughter. Her blue eyes were always happy, never mind the haunting look that sometimes dwelled   
in the very back of them when she was in deep thought.  
  
And then...  
  
It had been the night before she started junior high, when she was twelve. She'd woke up   
screaming at the top of her lungs from a nightmare at the exact stroke of midnight. She couldn't   
remember a thing from the horrible dream, but flashes of death came to her whenever she let   
herself think.  
  
So she spoke constantly, or was always in motion. Her grades began to fall like a doomed   
aircraft and her slight ditziness erupted into full-blown clumsiness and airheaded remarks. It was   
her silence that was dangerous, for with her silence came the dark, foreboding breezes and the   
deadened look in her eye.  
  
Her family dismissed it as stress. But as the hours melted into days that blended into weeks,   
their patience also dwindled. The girl understood it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them   
about her nightmares. As she had them, she remembered more and more.  
  
Finally, one day, just after she'd turned fourteen, she saw a group of boys tormenting a   
beautiful black cat, one she'd seen in her dreams. She wanted to leave the cat there... would it   
make her remember even more of the Dead Palace? But she just couldn't leave it there...  
  
She never thought she'd be more happy for swallowing her fear. The next time she saw the   
cat, it gave her a mystical brooch that transformed her into a warrior and made her forget   
everything about her nightmares... but she kept up her ditzy facade for the fact that she didn't   
want people guessing what she was and that she was afraid the memories would come back. So   
no one ever supposed it was an act, and in a way, although that was exactly what she'd been going   
for, this frustrated the girl. Didn't any of them look past the first impression?  
  
She put up with it, and ignored her life completely. She wasn't there; she spent all her time in   
a dreamworld where she was as she had been before she began remembering. And not   
remembering was worse than remembering at all.  
  
She eventually remembered again, after several battles. After the last, with an evil force   
known as Chaos, she remembered it all.   
  
She was sixteen.  
  
It took her days, and only with the help of her boyfriend (who thought it was only trauma   
from the battle) that she gained some sense, put on the mask she'd worn for four years, and   
grinned as happily as she could. After all, the Keeper of Time said that the end of her war was   
over; she could rest in peace.  
  
Not a single thought went to the fact that her boyfriend, also a Guardian to her, was   
beginning to act strangely.  
  
It was hard to notice at first. He'd always been a bit distant, so when he had to stay late at   
school and work several nights a week wasn't really unusual. In fact, it could have gone on   
forever had not a friend of the girl's boyfriend stopped the girl on the street.  
  
"How is Mamoru, Usagi? He hasn't been to school for two weeks, and I heard Chika say he   
quit his job nearly a month ago."  
  
The girl, Usagi, froze that the new information. After carefully prying more information from   
the girl, she called a meeting of her guardians, and told them all she knew.  
  
Finally, the wisest of them decided to have the more experienced of them to track, or spy, on   
Mamoru. It was jokingly called "Operation: Affair" and none of them, except perhaps Luna, the   
cat that had given Usagi her brooch, who watched everything out of her garnet eyes, lending a   
word of advise here and there.  
  
It at last happened. Haruka, the Guardian who controlled the power of the skies, was spotted   
by a none too happy Mamoru. In fear that Haruka had seen more than she let on, Mamoru   
attacked with his power of Earth combined with the dark arts. Haruka transformed into her   
warrior form and with the help of Michiru, the solider of the waters, the duo were able to get   
away without hurting Mamoru.  
  
Haruka had indeed seen a lot, and she called a meeting. Mamoru had sold his soul to a dark   
being and was plotting to kill the girl. At the new information, the girl stood up. A glint of   
absolute fury was there now, all traces of the innocent they knew gone.  
  
"This is the end." She announced, stunning them all. "He must be taken care of. Too many   
times he has led us into traps. If he does not completely come to the Light Side this time, then so   
be it." Her blue eyes held a glimmer of silver in their irises.  
"Usagi... but... he's your betrothed..." Artemis, the other cat, stammered.  
  
But Minako, the Guardian who controlled Love, stood up as well.  
  
"Usagi's right." She said. "We can't have him around if he's flirting with the demons."  
  
Mamoru burst into the temple room then.  
  
That very second, quite literally, all hell broke loose.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
/I can't do this. They have to know... no, no they don't. Not after... but still, he'll attack them   
first. He's been told I'm dead./  
  
She blew a few strands of silver hair out of her face, and bit her lip. She looked out of the bus   
window, ignoring Motoki's friendly chatter.   
  
/Motoki hasn't the slightest of what's he's getting in to. Damn it, he's always in the wrong   
place at the wrong time. But how do I get rid of him?/  
  
Her eyes locked onto a child in front of her.  
  
/How many innocent people will be killed this time? Because of me? Hell, I don't even care,   
and that's bad. Because you know they'll get in the way, Usagi. They always do. Will you kill   
them just like before? Will you give the soldiers another taste of the murderer you really are?/  
  
"--saw Makoto just now, she looked worried--" Motoki's words snapped her out of her   
melancholy thoughts.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Makoto. On the street, with Rei. Didn't you see her?"  
  
"Shit. SHIT!" Usagi reached up and pulled the cord. Grumbling, the driver pulled the bus   
over, and Usagi dragged Motoki off the bus and after the quickly disappearing brunettes.  
  
"MAKOTO! REI!" She made up her mind in a split second and barreled after them, yanking   
Motoki after them. The pair stopped, confused. Usagi had caught up to them before either had   
chance to turn around.  
  
"Are you trying to rip my arm off?" Motoki whined, hopping away and rubbing his shoulder.  
  
"Who... oh... god... Queen Serenity?" Makoto's face paled as she looked at the silver haired   
woman taller than she. "Are you really...?"  
  
"I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered." Usagi replied dryly, shooting a glare to   
Motoki. "Insulted you don't know me or flattered you guessed instead of killing me."  
  
"Usagi?" Rei asked weakly. "Damn... you've changed." She looked up at her friend.  
  
"I'll thank you not to make perverted cracks about it, like he's been doing." She jerked her   
thumb in the direction of the whimpering Motoki. "He wanted me to model lingerie for him."  
  
A cry of "Can you blame me?" came from the blonde man. who'd recovered from his 'injury'   
and joined them again. "I mean, well, look at her. She's loa-- OW!"  
  
"Eechi, Motoki-san!" Makoto exclaimed. "And that looked like a killer right hook, Usagi."  
  
"It is." Usagi said, deadpan. "Listen, I need to talk to both of you, now. I think you've at least   
guessed why I've returned."  
  
"I know why." Rei said. Makoto looked at her sharply. "I had a visit yesterday from the god   
Ares, I believe. He said you were in Tokyo because the battle's not over yet." Her shoulders   
slumped. "He was right, wasn't he?"  
  
Usagi nodded. "It explains why neither of you are really surprised to see me. I wondered.   
Motoki here almost blew me out with Haruka and Michiru... and then, oh, he's got the bruises.   
Now, I really need to be put up to date, if you wouldn't mind...?"  
  
Rei nodded.  
  
"You can stay at my place." Makoto added.  
  
"No, thanks. I'm staying at... well, you can guess. It will be the last place anyone will look."   
She ignored their astonished looks. "I was just going back there... Motoki tries to accompany me   
everywhere... Rika broke up with him, did you hear?"   
  
Motoki did his best to look crushed.   
  
"Yes, the love of my life hath left me, and the object of my rebound ignores me..." He made a   
motion as though to stab himself in the chest. Usagi rolled her eyes while Makoto giggled. Rei   
kept her eyes on Usagi.  
  
/She's changed so much./ Usagi noticed the look. /Her temper's not as hot as it used to be...   
have the others changed as well? Haruka and Michiru didn't look much different./ Usagi sighed as   
she remembered that Haruka and Michiru didn't change much, not even through death and a   
thousand years.   
  
"If you wouldn't care, Rei-chan, I've a few more places to go before you bring me up to date.   
I'll leave Motoki in your hands... he's not mature enough to be left alone."  
"HEY!"  
  
"Alright... where are you going?"  
  
"I'm not at liberty to say. Thank you, don't tell the others." With that, she seemingly vanished   
into the crowd.  
  
"How rude." Motoki commented, before latching onto Makoto's arm. Makoto blushed   
becomingly, and Rei rolled her eyes before grabbing Motoki's free arm.  
  
"Well, Motoki. How about you take a couple of lonely girls shopping? Unless of course, you   
see how warm it can really get in the middle of March."  
  
Motoki gulped. "Sure thing, Rei."  
  
"You know, I need a new nightgown. How about we drag him into Victoria's Secrets and   
make him stand in the raciest aisle?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan."  
  
Motoki's wail of dismay made Usagi, now over a mile away, laugh. /What comes around   
goes around, my dear Motoki./  
  
Her face sobered quickly.  
  
"I hope not," She said aloud. "I really hope not..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I can't believe you passed out."  
  
"Loss of blood!"  
  
"YOU HAD A NOSEBLEED!" Rei growled. "Nosebleed. What were you thinking about,   
anyway?"  
  
"If I said it involved you, Usagi, a can of Ready Whip and a mudbath, would you hit me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then don't ask. Who would have thought Makoto couldn't stand the sight of blood?" He   
looked thoughtful. "After all, she's beaten up a lot of people, and she's... well, one of you..."  
  
"If you're insulting her, watch your mouth. Remember who you're talking to."  
  
"Eek. Yeah."  
  
"Now, Motoki."  
  
"What?"  
  
"About Usagi..."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"How strong is she?"  
  
"Well," Motoki grinned. "She was able to pick me up by the collar with one hand and keep   
me there, until the mall cop started looking at her funny, without even looking like she was   
trying."  
  
"Damn."  
  
"No kidding."  
  
"So, do you think she's... well..."  
  
"Insane."  
  
Rei shot him a dirty look. "I'd prefer to put it mentally stable."  
  
"No."  
  
"WHAT?!" Rei glared at him furiously. "Don't toy with me! I'm serious! I can only piece   
together what she saw-- none of us were alive! Don't you get it, Motoki?"  
  
Motoki was unusually sober as he looked at Rei. His eyes traveled around the park around   
them, assuring himself no one else was in ear shot.  
  
"I am serious." He said. "Rei, she watched her earth family be brutally murdered. Her mentor.   
Your family. And you know what? It was the man she loved more than life itself that did it. And   
then he tried to kill her. Damn near succeeded-- but she killed him instead. She's not stable, Rei.   
She will go off if provoked enough. She's got an iron control, but even iron breaks." Motoki's   
voice cracked. "She's... Rei, she's... not human... you've seen her..."  
  
Rei looked away.  
  
"Yes I have. I've seen her. I knew the outline of the story. Murder murder murder. But... she   
HAS to tell us, Motoki. She ran right after it happened. We awoke to pools of blood and a bunch   
of dead bodies. We have to know the details, Motoki. We have to know what happened exactly."  
  
"You may never know." Motoki said.   
  
"I just thought... maybe she'd tell me if... they... *hurt*..."  
  
"Mamoru wasn't exactly sane when he cracked."  
  
Rei closed her eyes. "Yeah, I know..."  
  
"Hey, guys. Sorry I was gone so long... why the long faces?" Makoto, a bit paler than usual,   
walked up to them. "You look like someone died."  
  
"A few people died, if you'd remember." Rei said, not unkindly. "I'm trying to strangle   
whatever Usagi told Motoki out of him. So far I've only confirmed Ami's theory-- Mamoru killed   
THEM and then tried to kill her, but she killed him first."  
  
"He's not dead." Motoki said suddenly.  
  
Makoto dropped her bag. "What do you mean?!"  
  
"He's not dead." Motoki said, speaking as he would to a child. "That's why Usagi came back.   
He's not dead-- well, he is, but his body isn't. The Chaotic One has his body again."  
  
"Motoki, if this is your sick idea of a joke..."  
  
"Would I joke about something like that?"  
  
"Shit."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Double Shit."  
  
"Mako-chan, watch your mouth." Rei said, but she had the same look of foreboding doom in   
her eyes that Makoto did. "We don't need vulgarity added to this problem."  
  
"Problem? PROBLEM?! Chiba Mamoru is not a problem-- he's a CRISIS! How can you be   
so calm about this? HE KILLED THEM, Rei. He killed us too--"  
  
"And you think I don't know that, Mako?" Rei hissed dangerously. "This time we'll be   
prepared for him. Call a meeting. Motoki, guess who's going to be the guest of honor?"  
  
Motoki groaned.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Carefully, Usagi twisted her way through the dark, graffiti filled streets. The sun was setting,   
and she knew the moment it vanished that this place would come to life. She held her breath as   
she darted around another corner.  
  
She was glad she looked so helpless. It gave her an advantage. No one would expect what   
she really was under this perfect cover of moon-pale beauty and coltish limbs. No one ever did.   
Their worst and last mistake.  
  
She smiled softly as she heard the rustling that signaled that she was being followed. /Well,   
and here I was hoping this trip would be uneventful. Oh, well. What can you expect from   
Chicago, anyway?/  
  
She just hoped her teleport hadn't been wasted.  
  
The rustlings became closer. She picked up her pace slightly. She was almost there. Maybe   
she could reach it before they got to her. She wasn't in the mood for mercy, and walking in that   
place splattered in scarlet blood immediately provoked a horde of "We must cleanse her before   
she sees the Great One!" from the mess of priests.  
  
It usually took ten minutes for her to convince them she didn't need 'cleansing'. This time, she   
didn't have ten minutes to waste. She broke into a half run.  
  
She didn't swerve in time to avoid crashing into the body that dropped off the building and   
landed in front of her.  
  
"It's her, Bobby." A hoarse voice that Usagi recognized said.  
  
"Oh, not you baboons again." She groaned. "Can't you take a beating and leave it?" She   
danced away as one of them lunged for her angrily. /Child's Play./  
  
"Not when a witch kills my brother." One of them spat at her.   
  
"A witch?" She feigned shock. "Oh, I'm hurt! Listen, okay? I'm going to see a friend. I don't   
need your lower intestines on my new shirt, 'cause she's really a nice lady. Give me half an hour   
and I'll meet you back here and THEN I'll kill you. Sound like a deal?" The hope in voice was   
sincere, for once.  
  
"You're not getting away again."  
  
She sighed. /Fine. Ten minutes with the priests. Okay. I can do that-- DAMN!/ She just   
barely missed being hit by a wave of water one of them had thrown at her.   
  
A drop splashed onto her arm, and she was surprised at it burned and healed at the same   
time.  
  
"Holy water." She realized, and sneered. "Oh, please. I'm not a vampire, you moron. And go   
ahead and break out with the whole silver bullets and cross deal. I'm not a werewolf, either."  
  
"So how do we kill you then, Pretty Witch?" Bobby leered.  
  
"Oh, let's see. The whole fission bomb thing might work, but I'd just pull a vanishing act   
before it went off. I suppose you could make the sun go ca-boom, but you Cro-Magnon usually   
have that streak of self preservation, don't you?"  
  
She laughed as several of them rushed at her.  
  
"I don't have time for this!" She said, jumping out of the way, landing with a graceful   
somersault. The dagger she kept hidden under her dress suddenly appeared in her hand with a   
quick flash of her wrist.   
  
Seven inches long with a jagged, rough blade she'd used to slice a diamond with, it was made   
of an unbreakable metal that had been extinct with the dinosaurs. With a spin and an insane   
cackle, she buried all of it into the chest of the nearest one, gave it a quick twist and yanked it   
back out, jumping away before the crimson liquid that flowed so freely now could touch her.  
  
/Good or evil?/ She asked herself, taking out another ruthlessly. /Good doesn't kill. Evil   
doesn't win./ Another went down as the blade caressed his throat. /Take your pick, God./  
  
She looked at the remaining shadows.  
  
"Like I said--" She wiped the blood from her weapon with the hem of her dress, that had   
been splattered with blood from her most recent victim. "I don't want to do this right now."   
  
They scampered, knowing death and an exit cue when they saw it.  
  
She surveyed the three dead bodies and shrugged, returning the blade to its hiding place and   
moving on. It took her less than five more minutes to reach her destination. She was only slightly   
surprised when no more resistance met her.  
  
She walked up to a boarded up door and opened it, ignoring the skull that hung over it.   
Immediately men robed in violet began to swarm around her. Impatiently she shoved them aside   
and moved past them without a word.  
  
"Told you she'd be back." She heard one of them mutter sulkily.  
  
"Oh, do shut up!" She snapped, moving past a set of doors leftover from the Gothic age and   
into a room lit only by a precious few slender candles.   
  
The room was very deceptive to the outside appearance of the building. Looking at the   
shabby, painted walls of the street, if one were told such a room existed within they would ridicule   
the idea.  
  
Though hard to see in the dim light, the walls were bejeweled thickly with precious stones   
and portraits and expensive statuettes lined the perimeter. Lush scarlet carpet that had seen life's   
liquid of the same color more than once covered the floor, and the ceiling, a good distance above,   
was painted by a skilled hand, showing a picture of a night's sky. A great candelabra hung from it,   
holding tapers of a dark color that gave off an eerie blue light.  
  
In the center of the otherwise bare room, the shape of a woman sat on a pile of cushions. She   
smiled warmly at Usagi's entrance.  
  
"Do shut the door behind you, dear." She said pleasantly. "You'll let a draft in."  
  
Usagi did so. She advanced toward the woman, her expression grave.  
  
"Scintilla." She bowed slightly. "There's a problem."  
  
Scintilla rose at this, and the dark light relieved her features. The face was older than the   
body, lined slightly. Eyes of a inhumanly light color speckled with brown turned grave. The purple   
robe she wore fell in folds as she stood up.  
  
"It's Mamoru again, isn't it?"  
  
"You sensed him too?" Usagi sighed. "I... I know it's silly, Scintilla. But I came for   
permission. If... if it really is... well... you know..."  
  
"Usagi... Serenity..." Scintilla stepped forward and put her hands on Usagi's shoulders. "You   
know I care for what is right. No matter what, your decisions in times of absolution play out for   
the best in the long run. Use your instincts and not your emotion. Do want you know is right."   
She sent an amusing glance at the ruined black dress the girl wore. Have you been fighting   
again?"  
  
"Ran into a gang a couple of thousand meters away. They got rough and I got serious." She   
grinned half-heartedly. "They're three members short now."  
  
"Well, don't risk it again, dear."  
  
"Of course. I just... wanted to walk a bit before I came. I know you were Mamoru's mother   
and all, but I didn't know quite how to ask."  
  
"You didn't need to. I suppose you've made a new ally?"  
  
"Motoki."  
  
"The blonde?"  
  
"No, the red-head."  
  
"Sarcasm does not become you, my dear."  
  
"Yeah, but it helps when you don't know how to reply." Usagi took a forward and took the   
seat offered her. "Now, Chiba-san, tell me what you know about the Chaotic One..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"She's back?"  
  
"At *Mamoru's* apartment?"  
  
"She told Motoki?"  
  
Artemis, Minako, and Haruka, respectively, were shocked. Shocked being an   
understatement, in the sense that an understatement was calling a volcanic eruption a hiccough.  
  
"Yes, yes, and yes." Motoki answered. he was fast growing irritated. "I don't know much.   
She didn't go into detail, alright? The only thing she told me that you didn't already know what   
that Mamoru told her something before he killed Luna, and went after her. It stunned her enough   
so that he ran her through a few times before she got a hold of herself and got him with his own   
sword." Motoki explained for the four hundredth time.  
  
"Told her something?" Hotaru asked skeptically. "What on earth could he say to throw her   
into that kind of shock it would have taken to throw her off?"  
  
"I DON'T KNOW!"  
  
"Maybe it was something about the Chaotic One?" Michiru suggested, pushing her sea-green   
hair out of her face as she stood, looking over Ami's shoulder as the genius typed away furiously   
at her computer.  
  
"I don't believe so." Setsuna said, from her quiet corner. "Short of the Chaotic One being her   
dead mother, which quite frankly, has the same possibility of the sun turning neon green and   
crashing into Mercury of happening."  
  
"When did *she* get a sense of humor?" Minako muttered. "And you've seen nothing helpful   
in the fire, Rei?"  
  
"Other than my deity? Nope."  
  
"Michiru? What about your mirror?" Artemis asked.  
  
"It's not responding." Michiru said absently. "None of the talismans are."  
  
"What? Why didn't you tell us that before?" Ami demanded, sending a sharp look to Setsuna,   
Haruka, and Michiru. "This could--"  
  
"Ami," Haruka's expression was grim. "the talismans, save Setsuna's, haven't cooperated   
correctly since Usagi lost the Holy Grail to Pharaoh 90. A few months back the Space Sword   
wouldn't produce the Blaster. It still works as a combat weapon, though." She added.  
  
"My mirror won't do a thing." Michiru said. "I've still got my Deep Submerge, but the mirror   
won't show Truths anymore, nor will it attack."  
  
"The garnet orb responds only when a tremendous amount of my energy passes through it   
now." Setsuna said. "It too, will stop doing even that in a few days. I will still have my attacks   
because I do not use the orb as directly as Haruka does her sword or Michiru her mirror, but they   
will be considerably weaker."  
  
"Any theories on why?" Ami asked, entering the new data into her computer. "Is it because   
of the loss of the grail?"  
  
"No, we don't think so." Michiru said.  
  
"I think it's because of Mamoru." Hotaru said softly.  
  
All eyes went to her.  
  
"Come again?" Artemis requested.  
  
"Mamoru. I was last to fall unconscious, remember? Just before I blacked out, he said   
something about drawing upon the powers of our dreams." Hotaru said, unnerved by the unusual   
display of attention directed to her. "But since the inner senshi and I don't have a physical object   
in which our starseeds and/or heart crystals are connected to, he can't access our powers as easily   
as he could with the owners of the talismans." Such a long speech was rare of the fragile soldier   
of destruction, and her face was flushed.  
  
"It makes sense." Rei said slowly.  
  
"You're speaking Greek to me." Motoki said helpfully.  
  
"But what about your glaive?" Artemis asked.  
  
"The glaive's a weapon. It comes with the costume." Hotaru said. "I can pull it out now, just   
like you can take out your henshin sticks. But it's not really connected to me. Like, say, if you   
cracked Michiru-mama's mirror, she'd feel it and maybe even be in a little pain. But you could   
snap my glaive and I wouldn't feel a thing."  
  
"Of course..." Ami murmured.   
  
"But what about us?" Makoto asked. "You said we were harder to access, but he *can* do   
that, right?"  
  
"Not really." Setsuna said. "He probably can't expend too much energy. We would be the   
weakest target in this case." Haruka scowled and added, "He's dead meat."  
  
"I'll thank you graciously to leave that part to me." said a calm voice from the doorway.  
  
Heads snapped up as Usagi entered the room.   
  
"Where have you been, Koneko?" Haruka asked. "Or would you rather I call you Otome."  
  
"Do shut up, Haruka." Usagi said cheerfully. "I'll got good news and bad news."  
  
"What is it?" Rei asked.  
  
"The good news? Mamoru's back."  
  
"You call that good news?" Minako asked incredulously. "Then I don't want the bad news,   
thank you."  
  
"There's something else, isn't there? Usagi, where have you been?" Motoki asked   
suspiciously. Usagi frowned at him and looked around to see the same question in the others'   
eyes.  
  
"Alright, I can see I'll get no where. I've been to see Scintilla Chiba."  
  
It took a few seconds for the name to sink in. Only Ami recognized the true importance of it.  
  
"MAMORU'S MOTHER?" She shrieked, loosing her cool. "But she's dead!"  
  
"No, she's not." Usagi said calming, picking her way across the crowded room and sitting   
down next to Motoki. "She's very much alive and very informative. I did get into a bit of trouble   
on the way there--" For the first time they noticed the dried blood on her dress.   
  
"More dead people." Motoki groaned. "If the police ever find out, you'll be in jail for the next   
four hundred years."  
  
"I don't understand." Minako said.   
  
"Yes, we were told that Mamoru's parents were killed in a car crash." Michiru said.   
  
"They went over a cliff." Haruka added.  
  
Usagi looked at her, an eyebrow raised.  
  
"Haruka, have you ever been to see that cliff? It's a two hundred foot drop ending with   
jagged, pointy, HARD rocks. No six year old child could have survived that."  
  
"I thought that was where the terms 'really really lucky' and 'miracle child' came into play."   
Makoto pointed out dryly.  
  
"What's the story, Usagi?" Artemis asked.  
  
"In the beginning, there was nothing--" Usagi began with a grin. Rei interrupted her, "Very   
funny. We don't have time for jokes, Usagi."  
  
"Alright, then. Okay, did any of you know that Mamoru's mother and father were actually   
very powerful magi? They were. But the same guy we're up against now figured it out and went   
after them. He managed to get Hiiro, Mamoru's father, before Scintilla could do a thing. She had   
two choices: stay and die or cover it up and flee. She decided to covered everything up.  
  
"She staged the wreck. She put a protection charm on Mamoru and placed him and his dead   
father in the car and ran it over the cliff. Everyone knows that all that all they found of his parents   
was a handful of bloody pulp. Mamoru was found a few yards away, laying on the dirt like he'd   
fallen out of a tree, not like he'd just survived a drop onto a death trap. Thanks to Scintilla, he   
didn't remember a thing.  
  
"She ran and hid out. That's the story and here's the bad news: Mamoru will be contacting us   
in precisely..." She grabbed Motoki's arm and twists it to look at his watch, ignoring the loud,   
"HEY! OUCH!" he emitted. "Oh, six hours exactly."  
  
"Usagi, you have become a very frustrating person."  
  
"Thank you, Ami."  
  
"Midnight. On a Monday. Of course." Haruka grinned lopsidedly. "Ironies of irony."  
  
"Better Monday than a Friday." Rei beat Motoki to it. "I'd loose my respect for Friday."  
  
Artemis sighed. "Guys, in case you hadn't noticed yet, we've got a slight crisis on our hands.   
The outer senshi are out of the fight. You inners haven't trained in a long time--"  
  
"It's alright." Usagi said seriously. "If push comes to shove, leave him to me." Her eyes held   
something unfamiliar and dark. "I don't want you fighting another fight where one of you will   
die."  
  
"Usagi, you saw how strong he was the first time around!" Michiru protested.  
  
"And wait 'til you see how strong Usagi is." Motoki grumbled. "She puts a judo expert to   
shame o'er here."  
  
"I didn't just sit around. I did train, you know." Usagi said defensively at their strange looks.   
  
"Train... with what? An elephant?" Motoki snorted.  
  
"Motoki, if you want to have any possibility of having children in the future, shut up."  
  
"EEP!"  
  
"Children," Artemis said with a sharp look. "If you would PLEASE pay attention to the   
matters at hand--"  
  
"What's the fun in that, Artemis?" Usagi asked. "I've got six hours to live and I'll be damned   
before I'm serious about it. Who's up for an impromptu party?"  
  
"I'm good!" Minako cheered.  
  
"I'll call out for pizza!" Rei grinned, rushing for the phone.  
  
"I'm in! No Anchovies!" Makoto yelled.  
  
"Get extra cheese!" Motoki ran after Rei. "And NO MUSHROOMS!"  
  
They could hear Rei go, "Yes, sir. Lay off the cheese and extra mushroom, please." and then   
Motoki's, "NOOO! INJUSTICE!"  
  
"Don't worry, Artemis." Ami said comfortingly, as Haruka and Michiru began to inspect Rei's   
stereo system. "It'll be okay." Artemis gave her a look that clearly said he questioned her sanity.  
  
The music blared.  
  
"Come on, Ami!" Usagi said, pulling her away from the cat. "I want you to call your   
boyfriend, guy friend, a guy you vaguely know, and tell him that in fifteen minutes he's coming to   
a party. Now. Or I will read your mind with whatever telepathy I can use or just tickle you until   
you tell me."  
  
Usagi looked deadly serious, so Ami marched over to the phone admist cheers of   
encouragement from various senshi and picked it up, dialing the number of her lab partner, a   
rather cute guy.  
  
"Kihoki? Yeah, it's Ami. Er... uh..."  
  
Usagi rolled her eyes and grabbed the phone.  
  
"Kihoki-kun? Ami wants to invite you to a party. Yes. You know where the Hiwaka Shrine   
is? There. See you in ten." Usagi hung up the phone triumphantly. "Ami, we've really got to work   
on your conversation skills. He said he liked you a lot."  
  
Ami flushed a deep red.  
  
"Well, Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Live like there is no other." Usagi grinned. "All of you...   
yes, even you, Setsuna. Call someone. When I say party, I mean party." She grinned a grin that   
reminded them of the old Usagi, except there was a maniacal tint to it.   
  
"Alright, Usagi." Setsuna said. "I do have an old friend who might like to let her hair down   
for once."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Usagi smiled as she looked around. Everyone, by now, had forgotten the true meaning of the   
evening. The music was loud, the temple was crowded, and god forbid even Artemis and Setsuna   
were having a good time.  
  
She sent a glance over to Artemis. He was surrounded by pretty girls being petted and cooed   
over and given slivers of meat from the pizza. Of course he was having a good time. Any male   
would... /And speaking of males.../  
  
She looked at Motoki, who had his own little fanclub going. He looked like he was standing   
in the middle of paradise. She checked her watch.  
  
It was time.  
  
With a grin to the person standing beside her and a loud, "I think I'll go out for some air,"   
comment, she slipped out of the temple and made her way down the stairs. Her manner didn't   
change the slightest when a figure fell into step beside her.  
  
At the bottom of the long line of steps, she turned to face him. He didn't make a move for the   
weapon she knew he had, and likewise she didn't reach for anything that could help her as well.  
  
They stared at each other for a long time.  
  
"Well, I must say, you've grown even more handsome, if possible." She was the first to break   
the spell-like silence. "But it makes no difference, does it?" Her voice was carefully even and   
smooth. One wrong move from either of them and she would break, and God only forgive her for   
might happen then.  
  
"No." His voice, still the same no matter what, struck a chord. "It doesn't. I see you have   
come alone this time."  
  
"Come? In case you've forgotten, I didn't 'come' nowhere. You burst into the temple. If you'd   
been patient... of course, you've never been patient when it came to Me. One thing or another,   
you always rushed. It's your flaw, Endymion, Kronus, Chaos, whoever you are. You rush."  
  
"Is it, now? Then I won't rush this time. I'll kill you slowly."  
  
"You are too late." She smiled. He started, but sent her an icy glare.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Oh, didn't you know, Mamoru?" Her smile widened. It was then he noticed how truly pale   
she was, there, in the light of the full moon.  
  
/Full moon?/ His eyes narrowed. /It's supposed to be a dark moon. That's why this night was   
the one to kill her./  
  
"Know what?" He snapped, mulling over the change of the moon's phase.  
  
"I'm already dead, Mamoru. Usagi died a year ago, when you ran your sword through my   
heart."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
He froze.  
  
/Dead?/  
  
His mind began racing. Ghosts weren't real, and certainly not as real as she was. He'd been   
tracking her for months. She had been as real as any person.  
  
"I don't believe you." There was a waver there he couldn't explain.  
  
"You don't?" She held out her bare arm to him. "I have no pulse. Search. You won't find   
one." Her eyes were astonishingly honest, even now.  
  
He ignored the arm offered. Her eyes were simply too honest for it to be a bluff. No, the   
princess he had came to admire was dead, and her life's blood had been spilt at his hands.  
  
"Mamoru?" She asked softly, her voice almost kind considering his position.   
  
"What is it?" He snapped, drawing his sword.  
  
"I know you are Chiba Mamoru, somewhere in there." She sighed. "When you die, I will die.   
But before that happens, I want to know something. I would like to ask you a question."  
  
"And that would be?" His tone was sharp.  
  
"Why did you do it?"  
  
Her words hung in the deafened air. It seemed like everything had stopped with her inquiry.   
He stared at her, amazed by the boldness of the question, confused by the answer he realized he   
didn't know, and dumbfounded by how calm she appeared to be.  
  
It was a long moment before he answered.  
  
"Because," He said. "I am nothing. You would have been a great person, Usako. You were   
wonderful and cheerful and innocent and pure; you were everything I always wished I could have   
been. I have always been how I am. This is only what I wanted to do. Accepting Chaos was like   
opening a part of my mind I knew was there but never could quite reach."  
  
She looked at him with sad silver eyes. "Mamoru, I was only complete when I was with you."   
Her hands were innocently behind her back, and she looked for all the world like a heart-broken   
maiden of the moon. "I am no longer any of those things. You killed Tsukino Usagi." Her words   
turned accusing.  
  
"So I did." He sneered. "You don't seem in much of a position to do anything about it."  
  
"Oh, but I am." She smirked. In an almost too-liquid movement, one that was disturbingly   
natural to her, she drew the crystal sword that had been clasped behind her back and thrust it   
through his chest, searing through his heart.  
  
The sword that had been in his own hands clattered to the ground as he gasped, stunned. He   
looked at her. Her eyes-- emotionless stones of silver-- were merciless as she grinned at him.  
  
"You killed Usagi." She said, speaking as though she would to a child. "You did not kill the   
warrior that lurked inside her. I am that warrior. You forgot about me. You never knew I existed.   
And now, as you die, Chiba Mamoru, I curse you. You have killed something innocent, pure, and   
helpless, and so you are only a Half Soul. I curse you."  
  
He tried to say something, and felt terror as he realized he was dying, his blood rushing out   
to splatter her hands and dress, drenching the ground around them in dark red that glistened under   
the moonbeams.  
  
And he died.  
  
Usagi glared at him for a few moments. She'd learned the hard way to never turn your back   
on the enemy until you abso-fucking-lutely sure he was dead. For good measure, and, as a little   
voice in the back of her said yelled, perhaps over-doing the whole thing a little, she twisted the   
blade of her sword around as she pulled it out, and then plunged it once again into his quickly   
chilling body, slicing through his lungs.  
  
She was satisfied and returned the blade to it's true form, the ginzuishou, and replaced it   
inside her broach. She made sure to kick Mamoru as she headed back up the temple steps,   
oblivious to the fact her front was splattered with dark red blood that was quickly drying on her   
skin and in her hair.  
  
She opened the door into the dimly lit temple, something she was thankful for, and   
immediately found Rei and drug her away from her fanclub of handsome and not-so handsome   
males.  
  
"How do you feel about cremation, Rei?" Usagi asked, in a calm voice she didn't recognize as   
her own.  
  
"What....?" Rei took in Usagi's appearance and almost didn't stop the scream that threatened   
to escape her throat. She looked at the clock and then murderously back at Usagi. "You didn't..."   
She growled.  
  
"I did. And unless you want to be arrested for the body of a twice-dead man sprawled out at   
the foot of the Hiwaka Shrine, I suggest you transform and hit him with a few Fire Souls."  
  
Rei looked like a fish out of water as she struggled for the right words to tell her leader off   
with, and with a resigned sigh took out her henshin stick and walked out of the temple. Usagi   
nodded softly, and then placed her fingers over her left wrist.  
  
As almost to reassure her, a pulse beat there.  
  
She smiled brightly, for the first time feeling alive as she walked to a bathroom to change and   
really begin to party.   
  
She was young.  
  
  
END  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
